Frederic Alonzo Carrington Statue (2012)

Frederic Alonzo Carrington (1807 - 1901) was the Chief Surveyor for the Plymouth Company who selected the site of New Plymouth and superintended the surveying of the town.

Commissioned by the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (Taranaki Branch), the statue was unveiled on 8 June 2012. It was sculpted by Fridtjof Hanson (New Plymouth) and cast in bronze by Ross Wilson (Marton). 

Text of Heritage Trail Sign

Frederic Alonzo Carrrington 1807 - 1901

Frederic Carrington was born in Lewisham, England. At the age of 33 was appointed Chief Surveyor of the Plymouth Company with instructions to go to New Zealand to choose a site for a new settlement of colonists from the West Country of England.

In 1841 Carrington finally selected an area between Te Hēnui and Huatoki Streams for the new township. This location was preferred over several others he inspected, including Moturoa and Waitara.

Carrington's survey of the future New Plymouth included 2,267 quarter-acre residential sections. In addition he set out 209 fifty-acre suburban sections and 1,150 fifty-acre rural sections towards Waitara.

He returned to England in 1843, but came back to New Plymouth in 1853 where one of his aims was to construct improved port facilities. In 1862 he became Government Engineer and Surveyor for Taranaki and was involved in establishing roads in the province. His name is perpetuated in Carrington Street and Carrington Road.

Carrington served as Provincial Superintendent of Taranaki from 1869 to 1876 and was local Member of the House of Representatives (MHR) between 1870 and 1879. He also became the first Chairman of the New Plymouth Harbour Board, and laid the foundation stone for the new port in 1881.

A marble tablet in St Mary's Cathedral celebrates Frederic Alonzo Carrington as "The Father of New Plymouth."

Related documents:

Statue to honour city's founding father (Taranaki Daily News 18 October 2011)

Carrington's surveyor statue gets green light (Taranaki Daily News 1 Dec 2011)

Founder's stone (Taranaki Daily News 24 May 2012)

NP back in Carrington's sights (Taranaki Daily News 9 June 2012)